After a short
night at the Naval base in San Diego (thanks, Bri!), we arrived at the Southern
terminus of the PCT just as the sun was rising over a ridge. After, of course, being stopped by the border
patrol ... who asked us where we were headed and looked at us blankly when I
said Canada. And proceeded to check the
tread on our shoes -- as if he'd recognize ours among the hundreds of other
tracks. Once he left we walked up to the
monument, took our backpack photos, our handstand photos, and our Faygo pop
photos (we'll do it again in Canada!) and were off!
It was a long
and wonderful day. The first half of the
day flew by -- everything was so new and unbelievable. It's hard, after so many years of wanting and
then planning, to believe something like the PCT is actually happening. I mostly felt like I was just on a hike with
my cousin. Until around mile 10, that
is. And then the day got harder, and it
felt like I was on a week long backpacking trip with my cousin.
We wound up
doing 20 miles on our first day. A bit
far but water and will dictated it. We
had an opportunity to stop at 16, but Lake Morena (and a hot shower) was right
over the hill. And wouldn't it be great
to get 20 in? The hill was more like a mountain,
and we didn't roll in until 9 PM. It was
a little brutal. Fortunately, trail
magic was awaiting us! Terry Anderson
(trail angel of Casa de Luna -- known for it's chocolate syrup wrestling) had
stayed at Lake Morena an extra day and had hot dinner for us! We were met with cheers, offers for beers,
and hugs. It was a great end to a great
but challenging day.
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